Oct 2 United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, on Friday said it would not bid in a new U.S. Air Force competition to launch a GPS satellite, unless it got some relief from a ban on use of Russian rocket engines.
ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno told reporters the company was seeking a partial waiver on trade sanctions enacted last year that ban use of the Russian RD-180 engine that powers ULA's primary workhorse Atlas 5 rocket.
Bruno said the company needed a decision on that issue before it could submit a bid for the GPS launch competition. Bids are due Nov. 16.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal)